BEIJING: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has fully exited Chinese automaker BYD, a filing showed, ending a 17-year investment that grew over 20-fold in value in that period.
The filing by Berkshire’s energy subsidiary recorded the value of its BYD investment as zero as of end-March, down from US$415 million at the end of 2024.
Buffett’s company began investing in Shenzhen-based BYD in 2008, when it paid US$230 million for about 225 million shares, equivalent to a 10 per cent stake at the time.
It began selling those shares in 2022 after BYD’s share price had risen more than twentyfold.
Berkshire did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. CNBC first reported Berkshire exiting its stake on Sunday.
Li Yunfei, BYD’s general manager of branding and public relations, in a post on his official Weibo account thanked Berkshire for its “investment, help and companionship over the past 17 years.”
He described the stake sale as a “normal” stock investment trade. BYD did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The biggest rival to Tesla saw quarterly profit fall for the first time in three and a half years as its expansion hit a speed bump amid a government campaign against price wars.
BYD’s domestic sales, which make up nearly 80 per cent of its global shipments, fell for a fourth straight month in August. It has cut the annual sales target by as much as 16 per cent to 4.6 million vehicles, Reuters reported.
